


The Benefits of Sea Air

by Pameluke



Category: Persuasion - Jane Austen
Genre: Admiral Croft Kicks Ass, Age of Sail, Boats and Ships, Epistolary, Extra Exchange Treat, F/M, Kraken Fighting, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Sophia Croft Gets Things Done, Trick or Treat 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 18:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5059870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pameluke/pseuds/Pameluke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My Husband longed for the ocean, my dear, and I must confess, so did I.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Benefits of Sea Air

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cinaed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/gifts).



> For Cinead,  
> whose prompt about Captain Wentworth fighting a Kraken wouldn't let me be, and caused me to brave writing in this fandom for the first time, as well as try my hand at epistolary fic.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, even if it ended up being the Admiral instead of the Captain.

HRM Defiant, May 2

My dearest Anne,

I’m writing you this letter from HRM Defiant, en route to the East-Indies. We’re expected to go to port in Cape Town in three weeks, which is where I’ll hopefully post this letter.

I hope both you and my brother are in fine health, and that you’ve recovered completely from your confinement. I am so very grateful that both you and the boy are healthy. May it stay that way for a long time indeed. Having never had the good fortune to bear children myself, I must say I’m so very happy that the Admiral and I will have your and Frederick’s children to spoil. I should add, motherhood becomes you. You’ve never looked more radiant, as I’m sure Frederick agrees with me! Alas, I wished we could have stayed for another fortnight, but the Admiral had been offered this berth on the Defiant, and the Navy waits for no one, not even for a retired Admiral’s wife, who wishes to cuddle her nephew. But my Husband longed for the ocean, my dear, and I must confess, so did I.

There’s just something about the sea air, the wide open water, that makes a person feel the true magnificence of the world. The world is a large place, dear Anne, and we’re so very small in it. And yet, here are these men, who work together, who fight the elements for control over this massive man-built contraption, and win.

My dear Husband took some time to get used to the fact that he wasn’t in charge and had to be reminded on more than one occasion to only offer an opinion when asked for one. I think his foot must be black and blue, but luckily nobody seems to suspect a thing! Granted, Captain Leonards is a man with great patience and respect for the Admiral, and they get along well enough. There’ve been plenty of evenings spent sharing old war stories, and the Admiral has an attentive and admiring audience in the young midshipmen. How young they are, Anne, mere children really! I myself am treated with nothing but the utmost reverence and respect, although most of the men seem to be shy.

It’s good to be traveling again, and I’m so very happy to be at sea. I still think you would enjoy yourself, Anne, really you must try it one day, maybe when little Frederick is older and away at school.

 

HRM Defiant, May 15

Dear Anne,

We’re nearly a fortnight further, and I’ve neglected my writing altogether. So much has happened, I didn’t have the head for it. We were only a week away from Cape Town when we encountered the remains of a shipwreck. For two days, we scouted back and forth over the debris, but we didn’t find any survivors. Captain Leonards asked the Admiral for his opinion on what could have caused such total destruction, and the Admiral thought it could have been a Kraken. I’m not sure if the Captain doubted the Admiral, or just didn’t want to panic the crew. In any case, we set course to Cape Town, and he didn’t prepare the ship, nor did he warn the crew. If only he had!

Indeed, my dear Husband was worried by this, but since he’s in command no longer, there was nothing to be done about it. It was only two nights later that disaster struck. Oh Anne, the lives that could have been saved, if only Captain Leonards had listened!

I am not sure if I can manage to describe the true horror of what happened, but I must try, if only to honor those that have fallen in their valiant effort to save us all.

It was only first bell, but the Admiral couldn’t sleep, so we were both walking the deck, to watch the sunrise. Even after all these years, early mornings are still my favorite moment at sea. There’s something about the quiet, the lull in the winds, the lightening of the darkness that’s so serene and vast. The world is never so at peace, as on a quiet morning at sea.

You see, the problem with Krakens and the reason they’re so destructive, the Admiral informed me, is that there’s no way to see a Kraken attack coming. All that size, all that power, and yet, they attack seemingly out of nowhere. They are quite smart you see, and often use the shadows of clouds, or the shadow of the ship itself as cover to hide their form. Luck needs to be on your hand, and your lookout needs to be experienced, and can’t hesitate, for there to be any forewarning at all.

We were blessed, dear Anne, to have Mr. Matthews as our lookout that faithful day. He’s an old man, with many voyages under his belt, but still with a sharp eye, and the experience to make use of it. He didn’t hesitate to shout the alarm, and I dare say, and the Admiral agrees, that he saved us all.

The Admiral ordered me below deck at once, for safety he claims, but I think mostly out of fear I’d be in the way, while the men hastened to prepare themselves. I have to say that, while he could have listened better to advice given by those more experienced, Captain Leonards runs a tight ship. The men were swift to arm themselves, and get all the tack and so out of the way, and yet, time was too short. But then, can you ever truly be prepared for the horror that is a Kraken rising from the sea?

They always talk about the silence before the storm, but I think true horror doesn’t have that moment of respite. There’s no time. There’s orders being screamed, men running, and all over that, encroaching upon all other senses, is the sound of water falling of off the monster’s rising arms, followed by the deafening thuds when its arms fall on deck and start wrapping themselves around the ship. You can’t hear anything but that, and your mind freezes. It’s like standing in a waterfall.

Right after follows the smell, of rotting fish, which was truly overwhelming. But I must confess, dear Anne, that while my stomach turned, and for a moment I was heaving rather unbecomingly for a lady, it was the smell that pulled me out of my panicked stupor. I’ll never be sure how much time had passed, but enough had by then, for some of the screaming to have turned into screams of terror and pain instead of orders and commands.

My dear Anne, truly, I was convinced we were all going to die, in fact, my dear Husband could already have been dead for all I knew, alone in our room. But if we were going to die, I wasn’t going to do so alone, clutching my pearls. I thought I should be of use somewhere, to aid these men who were risking life and limb to try and save us all.

So I gathered my skirts and ran for the surgeon’s rooms, who surely would have a job for me to do. Oh Anne, I’ve seen plenty of battle wounds. I’ve comforted men whose limbs were lost to canon balls. I’ve held the hand of men who were dying when the fever had set into their wounds. I’ve kissed my Husbands scars. It was not even my first time aiding a surgeon. And yet.

Somehow it’s different when you’re trying to save people while the action is taking place above you. It’s hard to keep your wits about you when it feels like the world is ending.

The Admiral always says war is a bloody affair, and it is, but a Kraken attack is strangely devoid of it. Most men get hurt by falling tack, or are crushed by the monster’s arms and thrown into the ocean. It is said it can taste blood in the air, so the moment you bleed, its smaller tentacles will infallibly find you and sweep you off your feet. The men who made it to the surgeon’s table were mostly suffering from broken and crushed limbs, which was horrifying enough.

Until that day, I had only been faced with the aftermath of a battle, and this was different. I dare say worse. At least when men die in battle, there’s a certain purpose and honor in it all. To die for one's country is never in vain. This, this was just sheer, mindless, animal destruction and pain.

Mr. Winters, the surgeon, was glad for my help, and ordered me to counterbalance a leg while he pulled it to straighten the fracture. The limb was bent in an unnatural manner, truly stomachturning. But I’d offered my help, so persevered, and did as I was told. My dear Anne, if you never have to hear the sound a bone makes when it slips back into place, it will be soon enough.

Earlier I described to you that the sound of water had been overwhelming, but by then I’d gotten used to it, because suddenly you could hear something else through the ruckus. At first I thought it was the wounded men groaning, but I soon realized it was the ship itself, its wood groaning under the growing pressure of the monsters’ tentacles. It grew louder and louder, and here and there you could hear the snapping of wood, not unlike the leg we’d just set.

It was the most terrifying sound I’d ever heard, and how I wished in that moment that the Admiral was beside me, so I could comfort him, and he could comfort me.

Mr. Winters looked at me, and I saw on his face the same look of terror that was surely on mine, and we held hands and prayed.

I do not know how long I prayed, nor do I know if it made a difference, or if God had just decided that today was not the day we were supposed to die, but I was disturbed from my prayers by the surgeon shaking my shoulder, and above us I could hear the cheering of men.

Mr. Winters and I deemed it safe enough to venture upon the deck, where we found the crew celebrating, and the Kraken gone. A kind midshipman brought me to the Admiral, who looked tousled but still in possession of all of his limbs, and as you can imagine, my relief was immense.

I confess I forgot my composure for a second upon seeing his dear, dear face, and thoroughly embraced the man. I think he was likewise affected by the matter since he held me close for quite a while indeed.

Captain Leonards seemed likewise unhurt and was understandably preoccupied with ordering the crew around to prepare the ship to leave the dreadful scene as soon as possible. We had sustained heavy damage, but according to the Admiral the ship would be well enough to at least flee the scene far enough out of reach. When I asked him how we had escaped the monster's clutches, he was evasive, possibly to protect my nerves. At last I understood someone had managed to wound the animal, and it had fled in pain. Apparently we weren’t out of danger yet, it could still return at any moment, but for the moment we were saved.

The crew made quick work of the damage, and soon we were sailing again, albeit at a slower pace than before. I was amazed at the kindness of the crew, who all made sure to say a word of thanks and inquire after both of our wellbeing.

Oh, Anne, vanity is truly a deceitful mistress, because later I found out that it was the Admiral himself who had wounded the dreadful beast and thus had saved the ship! Indeed, the crew wasn’t wondering about my health out of politeness, but out of gratitude towards my dear Husband, who had saved all of our lives with a dangerous act of courage. Apparently he had hung by the side of the ship, and had managed to spear the monster in its head! At his age! I shall have night terrors about it for weeks, now that I’ve managed to get the truth out of the youngest midshipman. (Yes, dear Anne, I confess I bullied the boy for the truth, but it is a wife’s duty to protect her Husband from himself, even at sea.)

But all’s well that ends well I suppose, we’ve managed to get to shallower waters, where Krakens don’t thrive according to the Admiral, and while the ship is worse for wear, and shall definitely have to port at Cape Town for repairs, we’ve only lost twelve men. Which is a lucky escape, Captain Leonards assured me.

Meanwhile, our adventure hasn’t cured the Admiral from his longing for the ocean yet, and I fear he rather liked being of use again, especially now that he has an extra tale to dazzle the young midshipmen with.

And I must say, I quite understand him. Life is ever so more joyful and precious when you were so close to losing it entirely.

Here I must end my letter, as I must write to Frederick as well, and we should reach Cape Town by the morrow.

I hope this letter finds you, and my precious nephew, in good health, and that my dear brother takes good care of the both of you. I know you, Anne, you’ll deflect all well-meant attention, and over-extend yourself in your kindness and generosity. It’s a time to be spoiled, dear Anne, so you should let him spoil you.

My next writing should hopefully find you safely from the Indies,

Your friend and sister,

Sophie Croft

**Author's Note:**

> I wouldn't have written this fic without the Word Wars, encouragement and beta-reading skills of one person, who is likewise the person who encouraged me to sign up for this Exchange.
> 
> They shall have to remain nameless until after the exchange, but the sentiment is still heartfelt.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
>  
> 
> All remaining mistakes are obviously my own.


End file.
